The following can be copied as is or modified to suit your organization?s specific asks. We would like to get thousands of submissions to the UN by November 1 to demonstrate the public?s concern for a successful Earth Summit, so get it out far and wide.

Tell the UN that the status quo is unsustainable for our planet's three billion young people

In June 2012, presidents, prime ministers and other world leaders will come to Rio de Janeiro for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. With more than 50,000 participants expected, the event will mark the 20th anniversary of the historic first Earth Summit held there in 1992. The "Rio+20" gathering will set the agenda for the next decade or more for action on critical global challenges.

For the youth of the world, much stands to be gained or lost from the Rio+20 Earth Summit. That's because young people, more than any, understand how they will be affected if world leaders fail to take action on the intertwined environmental and economic pressures they face. There are already plenty of unfulfilled promises in scores of treaties and action plans, and the world's youth are expecting this summit to do much more than just deliver another agenda with lofty goals for the distant future.

As world leaders prepare for Rio+20 they must ensure that young people are a top priority by taking real actions to immediately put us all on a more sustainable path. The Earth Summit is about more than just the planet, it is about our future.

The United Nations is requesting public comments concerning the conference through November 1st.

What to do:

Send a message, before the November 1st, 5pm EST (2100 GMT) comment deadline, urging the United Nations to ensure that the world's youth will be a top priority at Earth Summit 2012.

Contact information:

United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development Secretariat Email: dsd@un.org

UN-DESA, DC2-2212 2 UN Plaza New York, NY 10017

Sample letter

Subject: I stand with the world?s young people in calling for a transformative Earth Summit 2012

Dear United Nations,

I am writing in support of three billion young people who are worried about their -- and their planet's -- future. The current degradation and exploitation of our Earth?s resources is simply unsustainable, and world leaders must respond in full measure when they meet next June in Rio de Janeiro.

First, we need all world leaders to recognize the urgency of the current situation. They need to understand and inform their own people about the dangers of not acting to move us toward a green economy and a more sustainable future. Youth are worried about the inequity and corruption that contribute to the overtaxing and mismanagement of critical natural resources and ecosystems and undermine the basis for ensuring decent livelihoods for the next generation. The United Nations should urge presidents and prime ministers from every nation to commit as early as possible to come to Rio and to initiate their preparations for the Earth Summit.

Second, world leaders must deliver more in Rio than another agenda with lofty goals for a distant future. Over the last half-year, young people meeting around the world have called out the weak implementation of scores of existing treaties and action plans adopted at previous summits. These young people are demanding that the next Earth Summit instead generate specific commitments to real actions from governments at all levels, corporations, communities and civil society groups. I agree, and the United Nations should ensure that we are holding everyone accountable for their promises.

Third, governments and corporations need to commit to major new investments in education, Employment and empowerment of young people in the transition to a green economy.

We cannot wait another generation for sustainability; the world's young people need their leaders to act now.